[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 8/21/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

August 21, 2007

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People -

 

 

Appeals court approves SoCal air district's clean fuel rules

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

 (08-21) 09:44 PDT DIAMOND BAR, Calif. (AP) –

 

A federal appeals panel largely upheld a lower court decision allowing Southern California air regulators to make government agencies buy clean-fuel trucks, buses and other vehicles for their fleets.

 

The decision Monday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals backed major portions of rules adopted in 2000 and 2001 by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and rejected industry arguments that the rules improperly attempted to impose emissions standards.

 

The South Coast district regulates Orange County and large portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

The decision applies to public agencies that are replacing or expanding fleets of 15 or more buses, street sweepers and garbage trucks.

 

David Pettit, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the decision could affect thousands of vehicles in the heavily populated South Coast district, which has some of the worst air quality levels in the nation.

"It's very significant," he said.

 

The environmental group had intervened on behalf of the air district.

 

The panel also directed U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper to review parts of the rules that primarily focus on private entities, such as taxi cab fleets.

 

Joe Suchecki of the Engine Manufacturers Association, the trade group that challenged the rules, said Tuesday that the decision "essentially maintains the status quo that the regulation can be applied to government fleets."#

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/21/state/n075819D74.DTL&tsp=1

 

 

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